Subtitled "A Canoe Trip with the Gods," this notable book traces the author's canoe trips running the great river. Unlike many adventure travel narratives in which the author plunges into an unknown terrain, Shaw aims for comprehension rather than searching for misadventure. The result is an account which combines the best of travel literature and environmental reporting.
Few travelers opt for the watery path, particularly with the threat of hijackings and shootings in such a remote area. But Shaw, an accomplished river guide and an enthusiast of the Maya culture, will not be deterred.
"In classical art, two gods pictured as canoeists, accompanied travelers on both actual and metaphysical journeys," Shaw explains. "Both gods paddle the souls of the dead to the Otherworld and the cosmic canoe -- the Milky Way -- across the sky."
Shaw also connects with the environmentalists in the region, including Fernando Ochoa and Ronald Nigh -- two pioneers in developing sustainable agricultural practices in the region.
The book is a veritable "Who's Who" in the region. Meet Scott Davis of Ceiba Adventures, Maya scholars Linda Schele and David Freidel, Moises Morales, the owner of El Pachan and Victor Perera, author of The Last Lords of Palenque.
The book is divided into 12 chapters and boasts the 1953 Franz Blom map of the Selva Lacandona on the inside book cover. What would be useful additions would be a map of the author's expeditions and an index of places and names.
Sacred Monkey River deserves a long shelf-life and it will no doubt be consulted for many years by travelers and environmentalists alike.
It is for anyone interested in Mesoamerica, Mayan culture, canoeing as adventure, or boats as the movers of trade and ideas. Also for anyone who is lusting for an otherworld experience, metaphorically or actually, though trave, boating, psychogenic drugs, or all of the above. It is full of honest hard-nosed obserevation of nature and the specific nature of this area, and at the same time streches for and is able to peek at the"final" trip, perhaps as many civilizatins saw it, goin on a craft down a river or out to sea/see. shaw effortlessly intertwines some Spanish into his evocative--dare I use the word--poetic English, always aiming for and touching precision and clarity without sacrificing mystery. On, I believe, its deepest level, the language as well as the story drew me into the unknow, into the future, and of course the past as well.